Ayn Rand and the Republicans:

Think Progress has a special report, The Truth About GOP Hero Ayn Rand, which is pretty good. Of interest was this tidbit:

The cultural capstone to this resurgence arrived last week with the release of a filmed adaptation of the first third of Atlas Shrugged, independently financed by a wealthy devotee of Rand's work and pitched explicitly at the Tea Party demographic. FreedomWorks, one of the central organizations in that movement, rolled out a massive campaign to encourage audience attendance and to push the film into as many theaters as possible. The 2011 CPAC conference held the world premiere of Atlas Shrugged's trailer, and the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation hosted an advanced screening of the film.

The Heritage Foundation and Ayn Rand? The Heritage Foundation - most recently noted for fantasy budget numbers - says this on their About page:

Founded in 1973, The Heritage Foundation is a research and educational institution—a think tank—whose mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense.

We believe the principles and ideas of the American Founding are worth conserving and renewing.

Ayn Rand's philosophy is incompatible with "traditional America values" or the "ideas of the American Founding".

UPDATE: For more on Ayn Rand, with a focus on Alan Greenspan's connection, there is a lengthy essay, When Alan Met Ayn: "Atlas Shrugged" And Our Tanked Economy.


posted by Quiddity at 4/23/2011 06:47:00 AM